


The Massacre of Skyhold

by Corpsies



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Inky goes mad, Inky kills everyone, Leliana POV, Major character death - Freeform, One Shot, Other, Please Don't Hate Me, descriptions of violence, red lyrium inky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 03:14:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17593547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corpsies/pseuds/Corpsies
Summary: Leliana comes back from a long trip to find a horrific sight. The Inquisitor has gone mad, and Skyhold wasn't ready.





	The Massacre of Skyhold

**Author's Note:**

> I'm stating this now - This was a brainbaby that I needed to write. Major character deaths are below, though there's nothing TOO specific. Just be warned, and please don't hate me :) Enjoy.

Leliana stood in the Skyhold courtyard, silent. Around her, her scouts her sobbing, vomiting, crying to the Maker about _how this could happen_.

A week prior to her trip to Val Royeaux, the Inquisitor had been kidnapped by Corypheus. With the help of Cullen and the inner circle, they had gotten her out within three days. They hadn’t thought she had been corrupted by the red lyrium... But now, Leliana wasn’t so sure.

Finally, Charter stumbled up to her, eyes red and hands shaking. “We’ve located her, Sister Nightingale. The Inquisitor is being taken to the dungeons as we speak.”

“Take me to her.” The Sister’s voice was curt, trembling with the effort of not letting her emotions take over. The absolute carnage around her stunned her – How much power did the woman have? How could this have happened? Is Corypheus the victor of their war now?

Leliana and her scouts began walking up the stairs. She looked to her left, where the stables had been – Now, it was just a pile of rubble and embers. Part of her hoped Blackwall escaped, but she doubted it. The Inquisitor’s madness had massacred thoroughly.

“We found the Commander’s body on the mountain side. It looks like,” Charter had to take a breath before finishing, “It looks like he fell from his battlement.”

Grief swept over Leliana, stopping her in her tracks. A flash of Cullen’s smile, his blushing cheeks when he shyly looked at the Inquisitor, made her breath hitch.

“And the others?” She finally forced out.

Charter looked at her with something akin to pity – the scout knew how close she was to the inner circle. Leliana had made Skyhold her home, and the Inquisition her family. Hearing about the slaughter was a torture she hadn’t faced since Marjolaine. Uncertainty washed over Leliana. She wasn’t sure she could handle the rest.

“There were no survivors.”

Leliana’s knees buckled, and she put a hand out to the wall to steady herself.  No one survived except Ellana, who may be infected with red lyrium and suffering from her capture. When the elf had been brought back, she had seemed… whole. Stable as much as one could be after a harrowing experience, but fine enough for Leliana to be able to travel.

Another deep breath, and she steadied herself. “Tell me what exactly we know so far,” Her voice, usually melodic and low, was still trembling. She doubted it would stop until she was out of here.

Charter cleared her throat, obviously struggling with what she was about to say. “From what some of the serving staff saw, it happened two days ago. Lady Lavellan started with the Commander, and then used an oil to set the stables. When Lord Blackwall ran out, she shot him with an arrow through the chest. While the guards were trying to figure out what happened, she, uh,”

Charter stopped and cleared her throat. Another scout that had been trailing them, continued for Charter.

“The Lady Inquisitor opened a rift above the Chargers, and while it was pulling them in, she shot them as well. We think the Red Jenny got a shot in, before Lady Lavellan just… disappeared. Lady Sera was found a while after, trapped in a barrel, stung to death by bees.”

 The scout ran a hand through his short hair, his frustration palpable. “We found her when we heard Lord Varric yelling. She beat Lady Josephine to death with her clipboard, and we found the dwarf with quills shoved through his eyes.”

A chill ran through Leliana. Blackness edged her vision and she could feel her breathing speed, but pure force of will kept her from a total breakdown. She needed to handle this, there would be time to mourn later. Or so she hoped.

“And the mages?”

Charter spoke again. “Solas is missing. No one saw him before the massacre, and he hasn’t been seen since. Altus Pavus was hung from the library rafters. We’re not quite sure how she managed it, but his seemed the most,” The elf cleared her throat once more, “peaceful.”

It was a small solace that he hadn’t suffered like the others. Leliana briefly wondered if he had taken his own life, but the thought was brushed away quickly. Dorian wasn’t the type to give up easily. He would have tried to fight.

“And Lady Vivian was found in her chambers, her staff shoved through her chest.” Charter finished.

The ground felt like it was uneven beneath the Nightingale’s steps, but she persisted. Down the stairs, flanked by two of her scouts, she steadied herself. Such sorrow was heavy in her heart, but the rage bubbling through was almost smothering. She was angry at Ellana, angry at Corypheus, she was even angry at Solas for running away when everything happened.

Their faces washed through her head – Varric laughing, Dorian getting heated during an argument with The Iron Bull, Josie’s sweet smile. If only Leliana hadn’t of left. Maybe she could have stopped it, or maybe she could have spotted any of the Inquisitor’s odd behaviors. Some clue that would lead to this absolute tragedy.

Or maybe Leliana would have ended up just as dead, left to feed her precious birds. She shook the image from her head. This was not the time, she had to keep reminding herself.

Finally, they arrived. The other scout opened the door, and Leliana walked in.

Cole and Ellana were sitting with their foreheads touching through thick metal bars. The Inquisitor’s eyes were wide, and she was muttering to herself in an unintelligible voice. Cole was crying, blood splattering his face and hands. He turned to look at them as they entered.

“She’s lost, everything isn’t what it’s supposed to be. The enemy is the friend and the friend is the enemy. Am I the enemy? Am I the friend? I don’t know where I am. There’s so much red, everything is red, nothing is as it should be. I want to go home.” Cole was speaking to them, translating the Inquisitor’s thoughts into something comprehensible.

Leliana walked towards them. This Ellana wasn’t the woman she had come to know in the past year; this Ellana was broken, fragile, and deadly.

She had killed everyone. Ellana Lavellan had singlehandedly destroyed the Inquisition and sealed the fate of Thedas as a whole.

Before she could speak, Leliana felt a sharp sting in her side. The other scout, a young man, was behind her and slowly slipping the dagger out of her body.

“Corypheus wishes he were here to see your downfall, but your heads will have to suffice.”

Pain. Mental, physical, she couldn’t tell which was worse anymore. Her side was wet, crystal red blood dripping from the slice – he was inexperienced, he hadn’t hit anything vital. Charter was behind him in an instant, sliding her own dagger along his neck. A bubbling mess sprung out, and he was down.

“Sister Nightingale, let me dress your wound,” Charter was talking to her, but Leliana couldn’t hear what else she said. Her eyes were glued to the body on the floor, then they slid to the mad elf in the cage.

Gently, so gently, Leliana reached out to take hold of Charter’s dagger. Her scout, her friend, didn’t fight her. Her eyes held understanding – She would support whatever her leader chose to do.

Before she could think about consequences, before she could second guess herself, she turned and flung the dagger through the bars. It was a precise shot. The dagger buried itself in Ellana Lavellan’s chest.

Cole just held onto the Inquisitor’s hands until the woman slumped, her mad mutterings finally drifting off into the void.

And then Leliana did something she hadn’t let herself do in years – She collapsed onto her knees and wept.


End file.
